Rewiring a plug

Joined
12 Jan 2005
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Country
United Kingdom
To me, this seems like a stupid question, so please be patient to someone who's not an electrician.

I've moved from North America to Ireland, and brought with me a laptop computer. The computer has a 120W dual voltage power adapter with a NA plug, so I've bought an adapter for the plug.

Here's where the problem is. The only plug adapter I could find is 2 pronged. I can use it for my 3 pronged plug, but it won't be grounded. Is this a serious issue? I assume that doing this long term wouldn't be a good idea.

My first option was to buy a new power adapter from the manufacturer, but they haven't got back to me on that - as per usual customer service isn't great.
Second, I can probably order a 3 pronged plug adapter off the net.
But today I thought maybe it's an option to remove the NA plug and wire it to a UK plug. Is this ok to do? Are there any issues I should be aware of? Anyone know of any long term harm that might come to my computer by any of these options?

Any insight would be appreciated!
 
Sponsored Links
Your laptop is getting DC from its separate AC adapter. What is on the AC side of the adapter shouldn't matter to the laptop, as long as the adapter is OK with Irish AC. If your laptop's AC adapter is like mine it is comfortable with AC100-240V, 50-60Hz.
The kind of plug on the othjer end of the wire from the AC adapter shouldn't matter. So cutting off the US plug and fitting a local one ought not to be a problem - as long as you do it right :) :)
 
yeah if the PSU covers the votlage range you should be fine

carefull about the color code though.
 
If the power unit will run on 230V then changing the plug would be fine, and in the long term far better than using an international adapter (frankly, many of the cheap adapters on the market are of dubious quality).

On the color-code issue, if the cord from the power pack is a normal American type when you cut off the plug and strip it back you'll find black, white, and green wires.

To wire correctly to a British/Irish plug, black goes to line (the fuse, on the right), white goes to neutral (left) and green to earth/ground (at the top).
 
Sponsored Links
Thanks all, that's what I thought, but I wasn't about to do it without checking it out first - I don't want to be wrong on this sort of thing!

Now that I'm going to be re-wiring (and thanks, Paul C for the colour coding, that's what I was looking for when I stumbled across this message board) UK plugs have fuses, right? Can someone confirm that I only need a 3amp fuse?
 
yeah that would be the appropriate value in this case
 
A little chilly in winter though! Flown over Canada on route to the U.S., but never actually set foot on Canadian soil. :)
 
it varies by brand. Most have figure 8 inlets but you see a few with IEC inlets and i have also seen quite a few with 3 pin propietry input designs.
 
Paul_C said:
A little chilly in winter though! Flown over Canada on route to the U.S., but never actually set foot on Canadian soil. :)
Flew over Labrador once.

Didn't see one bl**dy dog...
 
Paul_C said:
A little chilly in winter though! Flown over Canada on route to the U.S., but never actually set foot on Canadian soil. :)

Chilly is a very subjective term... I thought it was chilly there, until I went west. One day christmas week it was -51 out west. Where I'm from, it's more like -5!


ban-all-sheds said:
Flew over Labrador once.
Didn't see one bl**dy dog...

The dogs are big, but they're not that big! :eek:
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top